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Live from Roadkill Nights:
David Freiburger – Roadkill Show
Mark Malmstead – Head of Dodge/SRT/Motorsports Marketing
Ashton Munoz – Dodge Challenger/Charger Brand Manager
Keith Young – CAP: Mopar Career Automotive Program
In this weeks show we sent The MuscleCar Place staff writer Scott Stap to once again attend the ground shaking Roadkill Nights event plus an additional three nights of Dodge reveals inside the all new Event Center at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan! If you love inside OEM info on Dodge cars and marketing, this episode will leave you a little mind blown. The title photo you see above is that of the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee SRT Prototype. He witnessed the reveal in person. It’s AWD, all electric, does make “exhaust” noise (of some kind), and is probably lights out fast. Regardless of where you stand on electric cars….it’s outstanding looking for sure!
Roadkill Nights is an event held once a year and was inspired by two completely different forms of entertainment colliding, namely the internet sensation duo of the Motor Trend show David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan combined with the internationally famous automotive event known as the Woodward Cruise. Scott was able to get the inside story from two sources, of how it came about to shut down Woodward Avenue so anyone could drag race legally and safely.
Dodge stepped in to take charge as the manufacturer DEDICATED to fun and performance and is not just the presenting sponsor, but the company producing the most customer requested performance vehicles ever. Where others are ending the “halo” car ride, Dodge is going all in. The event is now considered by some to be the greatest Roadkill event ever. Listen in for our four feature interviews!
David Freiburger: is the undisputed industry legend well known as half of the Roadkill duo, along with Mike Finnegan, but he was also the Editor In Chief of HOT ROD Magazine and HOT ROD Deluxe. Many people at the event said he was the hardest working person they know and that he may have found the secret to a 25 hour work day. He is always doing something automotive related and loves to share the experiences with viewers. Motortrend on Demand produces many shows featuring Freiburger such as Engine Masters, Roadkill Garage, and Roadkill. You can follow David on Instagram.com/DavidFreiburger, or Facebook.com/DavidFreiburger.
Mark Malmstead: is the Head of Dodge/SRT/Motorsports Marketing and was a huge part in the very first Roadkill grudge race event at the Silverdome. He helped to create what is now the “Superbowl” of Dodge events, all wrapped into the week of Woodward activities. The goal for every year of these events is to be bigger and badder than the last! To promote the launch of Direct Connection, this years event sent out Hellcat crate engines and 6-speed manuals that YouTubers were to install and reveal at the event.
Ashton Munoz: is a returning guest and is the Dodge Challenger/Charger Brand Manager. Ashton is very passionate about the brand and it’s products. He was also the brand manager for the Viper in 2017! He gave the lowdown on what the “Jailbreak” options were for Challenger and Challenger which was akin to jailbreaking a cell phone. This was his method to allow a customer to build any combination of options for interior and exterior colors/features/options whether they are factory approved or not! They also get a special Jailbreak engine calibration to bump the horsepower up to 807 total. (He has a full rundown of the most popular Charger option too – Hemi Orange ScatPack and even the return of 6-speed manuals!)
Keith Young: Is the Director of the Mopar Career Automotive Program and he stopped by to talk about the direct to dealership training programs that are being offered. It’s designed to help learning technicians to understand all that’s needed to best prepare themselves to move to a MOPAR dealership to service cars and trucks there. (It’s akin to Chrysler education learning in a community college setting.) They have over 100 locations now! 75% of CAP schools are within 50 miles of a dealership.
Thanks everyone at Dodge for a great live experience and the special access to get our listeners the best information straight from the source!
-Rob Kibbe & Scott Stap
